This year, we celebrated the 12th annual College March!

On Friday, December 2, more than 1,000 students — from 11 NYC Outward Bound high schools — took part in the 2022 The College March, a powerful symbol of educational equity. The idea behind this inspiring tradition is that college can and needs to be accessible for every student, regardless of background or circumstance.

Many seniors around the city celebrated the steps they have taken to apply to college by mailing thank you notes to family members, friends, coaches, counselors and mentors, recognizing the support systems that have helped them through the application process. 

See who participated and check out the media coverage from this special day.

The College March is an annual tradition started at WHEELS and spread by NYC Outward Bound Schools. It helps establish college-going cultures and post-graduate planning in participating schools, reminding every student that with perseverance, resilience, hard work — and the necessary school support — each of them can graduate with a college acceptance in-hand and go on to lead fulfilling, purposeful and economically secure lives. The December date gives seniors a deadline to work toward in submitting their college applications on time.

College March Milestones

2011   

Assistant principal, Jenny Rodriguez at WHEELS conceives the College March and launches the first march at WHEELS, a NYC Outward Bound School in Washington Heights. Capital One Bank and the United States Postal Service (USPS) support the launch.

2012   

NYC Outward Bound Schools spreads the ritual to all of its network schools with support from Capital One Bank and USPS.

2014

President Obama mentioned WHEELS’ College March in his 2014 State of the Union address. With our support, schools across the country replicate the College March and it doubles in size.

2015

We present the College March alongside Capital One Bank at the National College Access Network Conference to further share the practice with other schools.

2016

We partner with the NYC Department of Education’s College Access for All and NYC Mayor’s offices to expand the College March to even more NYC public schools.

2017

Edutopia joins the WHEELS College March and creates a short documentary.    

2020

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we celebrated our first-ever virtual College March On Friday, December 11, 2020! This date also marked the 10th anniversary of the College March and the largest to date, with more than 2,000 high school seniors from across the country celebrating together on Zoom! Watch a recording of the 2020 College March.

Today

The College March continues as an annual ritual and a powerful symbol of the idea that every student, regardless of background or circumstance, can be prepared to thrive at a high-quality institution of higher learning. It is an integral part of our larger Postsecondary Success program.

Our Partners

We are grateful to our College March partner Capital One Bank, who has been supporting this event since 2011. From deep employee involvement, to strategic advisement and financial support, Capital One has been a true partner in implementing and growing the College March.

Check out Capital One’s inspiring video about the partnership.

And each year, we are also extremely grateful for our partners at the United States Postal Service who are at each of the marches in New York City accepting students mail and making sure it will be delivered safely.

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